72-yr-old woman held in ₹100-cr property fraud case

MUMBAI: A 72-year-old woman was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) after she repeatedly failed to appear before a court in an alleged ₹100-crore property fraud case

MUMBAI: A 72-year-old woman was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) after she repeatedly failed to appear before a court in an alleged ₹100-crore property fraud case. The court had issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Amina Usman Dada after she appeared for hearings only twice despite being served 21 summonses, police said.

Dada, one of five accused in the case, was arrested on Friday from her residence, where she lives with her 84-year-old husband. She was produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.

According to the EOW, Dada allegedly conspired with her brothers to sell a South Mumbai property worth around ₹100 crore to developers without the knowledge of her cousins. She has been booked for cheating, forgery, criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy under Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code.

“We sent a team to her residence after she failed to appear before the court during hearings in the case,” an EOW official said.

Investigators said Dada held a power of attorney for the property and allegedly signed the redevelopment agreement. She allegedly received ₹ 3.5 crore and was promised two flats. The redevelopment deal is currently being contested before the Bombay High Court.

The case concerns three tenanted premises on Delisle Road in Lower Parel. Ayaz Kapadia’s complaint alleges that his relatives falsely claimed complete ownership of the jointly held property and entered into a redevelopment deal with Big Tree Developers.

Police said the properties are jointly owned by the families of Kapadia’s late father, Jaffar, and his uncle, Latif.

The EOW has already arrested two other accused. Abida Ismail, who was arrested in Mysore, is currently out on bail, while UAE resident Rahim Latif Kapadia was arrested after an LOC was issued against him. Malik Latif Kapadia is absconding and a proclamation has been issued against Abdul Aziz Kapadia, police said.